Dragonfly partners say Eclipse CEO had a history of sexual allegations

Dragonfly Capital gave up investing in Eclipse after sexual harassment allegations against its CEO Neel Somani came to light.

X on May 10 to postHaseeb Kureshi, managing partner of crypto VC firm Dragonfly Capital, said his firm declined to invest in Eclipse while it completed due diligence on the L2 solution.

During the process, Dragonfly discovered a history of sexual harassment surrounding Eclipse founder Neel Somani.

“If we only heard about this with minimal due diligence, there’s no way real investors haven’t heard the same thing,” Kureshi added.

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The chief executive also stated that, from what he has learned, this is a long-standing pattern of behavior by Somani, who has been accused of misconduct ranging from inappropriate social media behavior to accusations of aggravated sexual assault.

Qureshi concluded that despite his background, Somani received investment and successfully sold millions in secondary for pre-launch tokens, which was “shameful”.

Meanwhile, on the same day, the president of Eclipse also appealed to X to maintain his innocence, claiming that he had never sexually assaulted any women.

Last week, serious allegations were made about me on Twitter. These allegations are false, but serious allegations of sexual abuse require a serious and thoughtful response. You will find this answer in the following topic:

— neelsalami.eth 🌑 (@neelsalami) May 9, 2024

Somani said he would leave his role as the “public face” of Eclipse because it would be unfair to the team and the L2 solution if “this situation damaged their reputation” and added:

“I will be temporarily reducing my role as the public face of Eclipse. “Senior leaders at Eclipse are well equipped to assume these responsibilities, which will allow these conversations to unfold and the truth about these allegations to emerge.”

Separately expressionEclipse said the firm is “committed to maintaining the highest personal and professional standards, including gender equality and fair treatment.” The company will also monitor the matter carefully and share details with other senior Eclipse members who manage Eclipse.

Eclipse co-founder Sam Thapaliya said his company is “committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity and accountability” throughout its operations.